Mets Monday: The Definitive Ranking of all Mets Jerseys Ever

The Mets uniform's and color scheme have been fairly consistent throughout their first 58 years, and for good reason. Their jerseys as a whole have been solid and their blue and orange colors pay homage to the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers. If it ain't broke don't fix it, and the Mets uniforms are the farthest from broke, so it makes sense why they've never really changed. Despite a lack of major style changes, the Mets have rocked many different uniforms and some are clearly better than others. This quality disparity from jersey to jersey warrants an official ranking

It's worth mentioning that this ranking is NOT my opinion, but is instead objective fact. If you disagree you are wrong. This IS the proper order from best to worst of every uniform the Mets have ever worn.

DISHONORABLE MENTION: Mercury Mets (1999)

This jersey doesn't truly count as a "Mets Jersey", as they only wore it for one game, but it still needs to be discussed. To be fair Mets wore this jersey on "Turn ahead the clock day" when every team was wearing asinine uniforms, but most other teams didn't look nearly as bad. Having ever worn these disgusting rags makes me seriously question if the '99 Mets were even a good team, and I wouldn't blame the Mets organization if they burned all evidence of that day and censored them from the internet. They should have refused to take the field.

#15: White Jersey with Camo "Mets" (2013-2014)

Even though it's a huge step forward from our dishonorable mention, this jersey still looks really horrible. The Mets wore these on "Military Mondays" in 2013 and 2014, and while I commend them for the idea of a Jersey to honor the troops, this is the was the worst possible execution. Having Camo as the "color" for your team name on a white jersey is literally hard to look at, and that doesn't even mention those orange and camo hats. Eventually, they tried adding pinstripes, but it wasn't much better.

#14: Grey Jersey with "New York" in Cursive (1987, 1993-1994)

I'm not a huge fan of grey jerseys in general, because the bright orange and blue don't fit well with drab grey, but when it done well they can look really good. Unfortunately, these weren't done very well. Grey jerseys start off at a disadvantage, but the reason this is the worst of the greys is because of the cursive font that "New York" is written in, which both looks bad, and looks too much like the Yankees font. There were many variations of this jersey worn in its 3-year run, some with a line under "New York", and some with the racing stripes, but it's not even worth differentiating because none look good.

#13: Pullover with Blue and Orange Sleeve/Collar (1978)

Buttoned baseball jerseys are superior to pullovers. This can not be denied. Despite this fact, the Mets have had some really solid pullovers in their history and this jersey (their first pullover) lead to those. Even though it eventually led to greatness this jersey is still subpar and its inspiration towards later jerseys is the ONLY reason it isn't lower on the list. The sleeves and collar (especially the collar) make it look like an old tee shirt you wouldn't want to be seen in, rather than a baseball jersey, and the two buttons at the top don't help it much. The pinstripe variation is much better than the solid color version, but both are still jerseys to be forgotten.

#12: Grey "Mets" with Orange and Blue Racing Stripe (1982-1986)

This jersey definitely isn't bad by any stretch, but there are two issues with it. The first being that its grey, and the second being that it's the exact same as the Mets home jerseys, except not white and not pinstriped. They both have "Mets". numbers on the front, and a racing stripe. If their home jersey was different this would be higher, but because of them, this jersey was nothing special. There's a reason Doc and Darryl look so Bored in this pic, and I think it's because of the jerseys they had to wear.

#11: Camo with Blue "Mets" (2014-2015)

The much better Camo iteration, which earns some bonus points for being SO far improved from what it replaced. The blue and orange still stick out from the tan camo but it's not too bad and I think this is just about as good as a Camo jersey could possibly get.

#10: Black "New York" (1999-2008)

I don't really like the "New York" font the Mets have been using. Sue me for it. I also especially don't like it on a black uniform, because the small letters make it hard to see any orange or blue at all. I do still like this jersey as a whole though, and think the Mets should bring back the black, but it's far worse than the "Mets" black jersey which will come later in this list. Being ranked at #10 may seem like low praise, but it really isn't. Every uniform to make the top 10 is a very solid jersey and although this one could be better, its still excellent.

#9: Grey "New York" with Racing Stripe (1988-1992)

This is the best font the Mets have ever used to write "New York", and unlike #12 on this list, it actually looked different from their white (home) jersey at the time (different words on the front and no front number). It still loses some points for being grey but this is overall a strong jersey.

#8: White "Mets" with no Pinstripes (1997-2011)

These uniforms look great, but not quite as great as their pinstriped counterparts, which they had at the same time. The presence of the pinstriped jerseys in the same locker room begs the question: "Why did the non-pinstriped white jersey even exist?". Did the Mets ever look bad on the field wearing these? absolutely not. But would they have looked better if they wore the pinstriped whites instead? hard yes.

In the late 90s, they would occasionally wear white hats with this jersey, which would make them look like actual ice cream men. This jersey with the white hat ranks way lower but with a blue hat (what they normally wore), it's still pretty strong.

#7: Blue "Mets" Pullover with Orange and White Sleeve/Collar (1982-1984)

Yes, they look just like the 1978 pullovers except its blue. I know. But blue is a HUGE improvement. The Mets wearing these on the road than coming home to the pinstriped-racing striped-whites makes an elite uniform combination. This is also the first time the Mets wore anything other than white or grey, so we can all appreciate these jerseys for that.

#6: Grey "New York"(1962-1973, 1998-Present)

I talked bad on the Grey uniforms, and I've talked bad on this "New York" font, but together they work. It's a classic jersey. It just looks old school, retro, and awesome. It may not be the most exciting thing you can wear but there isn't anything bad you can say about it. Grey jerseys are always at a disadvantage, but this is just about the best you can do with one.

#5: Blue "New York" (2013-Present)

This jersey loses points for the "New York" font, but even that isn't enough to knock it past 5th, as the Mets modern-day blues are just SO good looking. Would be a little better with orange in the "New York" instead of grey? sure. Would it be much better with the late '80s "New York" font? of course. But these blues can do no wrong.

#4: White "Mets" with Racing Stripe and Pinstripes (1983-1992, 2016)

One of the most recognizable uniforms the Mets have ever worn, and one of the two jerseys they ever celebrated a world championship in. The orange and blue racing stripes look great against the pinstriped white and, when lined up correctly, the stripe continuing to the pants added a lot. This jersey was a pullover for most of its tenure (only having buttons from '90-'92), but lack of buttons can't hold back a jersey this classic. The only "problem" keeping it off the podium is that it may be TOO classic, and no team other than the 86 Mets will ever be cool enough to pull it off (the 2016 team wearing it just looked wrong).

#3: Black "Mets"(1998-2011)

The most divisive jersey in the Mets catalog by far, and probably the only "hot take" on this list. The black looks crisp and the big blue letters really pop. Some complain about them saying that "black isn't a Mets color", but to that, I'd say that neither is grey or white. You can have the base of your uniform be "not a team color" and still have great looking uniforms. This is an example of that.

I'm sure players didn't love wearing black during the summer, and that's fair, but in terms of looks there is nothing bad to say about them.

You may think I'm biased because I grew up watching the Mets in these jerseys, but that's ridiculous and it seems you're forgetting that this is an objective article about fact. There is no bias here.

#2: Blue "Mets"(2013-Present)

It doesn't get much better than these in terms of pure aesthetics. The orange and blue look great together and as good as white/black jerseys can be, there's just something different about a colored jersey. They're so simple and good looking that there isn't really anything to say about them. The only question is why did it take 51 years to come up with them.

#1: White "Mets" with Pinstripes (1962-1977, 1995-1997, 1999-Present)

There's no way to deny this jersey its rightful spot at the top. The Mets have moved away from it a couple times but they always come back, and why wouldn't they? it's a great lookin' uniform. Just about all the best Mets ever has worn this exact same thing and every new Met will for the foreseeable future.

Unlike the pinstripes across town, this jersey actually features color, meaning that despite what some misguided people will tell you, the Mets have the best pinstripes in the city, and therefore the best jersey in the city (also best team in the city).

There have been a few different iterations of this uniform, sometimes having a number on the front and a name on the back, sometimes not, but the feel has remained the same for over half a century, and that's something worth commending. For that reason the White Pinstriped "Mets" jersey is officially the greatest jersey the Mets have ever worn.

Ridin' Pine

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